2 firefighters die in Bridgeport blaze

Genevieve Reilly, News-Times

Genevieve Reilly, Staff Writer

Published 11:23 pm, Saturday, July 24, 2010

Firefighters stand outside the house at 41 Elmwood Ave. Saturday after a fire in the structure claimed the lives of Lt. Steven Velazquez and Firefighter Michel Baik and injured three others on July 24, 2010.
Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch speaks to members of the press outside his office at City Hall Annex after two firefighters died in a house fire on Elmwood Ave. Saturday, July 24, 2010.
Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch speaks to members of the press outside his office at City Hall Annex after two firefighters died in a house fire on Elmwood Ave. Saturday, July 24, 2010.
Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

Firefighters stand outside the house at 41 Elmwood Ave. Saturday after a fire in the structure claimed the lives of Lt. Steven Velazquez and Firefighter Michel Baik and injured three others on Saturday, July 24, 2010.
Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

41 Elmwood Ave. stands burned after a fire in the structure claimed the lives of Lt. Steven Velazquez and Firefighter Michel Baik and injured three others on Saturday, July 24, 2010.
Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

41 Elmwood Ave. stands burned after a fire in the structure claimed...

41 Elmwood Ave. stands burned after a fire in the structure claimed the lives of Lt. Steven Velazquez and Firefighter Michel Baik and injured three others on Saturday, July 24, 2010.
Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

41 Elmwood Ave. stands burned after a fire in the structure claimed...

The scene along Elmwood Avenue after a fatal fire in Bridgeport, Conn. on Saturday July 24, 2010. At least one firefighter has been confirmed as having died sustained while fighting the fire and several others were injured.
Photo: Christian Abraham

The scene along Elmwood Avenue after a fatal fire in Bridgeport, Conn. on Saturday July 24, 2010. At least one firefighter has been confirmed as having died sustained while fighting the fire and several others were injured. Here, a firefighter get hydrated after fighting the fire.
Photo: Christian Abraham

The scene along Elmwood Avenue after a fatal fire in Bridgeport, Conn. on Saturday July 24, 2010. At least one firefighter has been confirmed as having died sustained while fighting the fire and several others were injured. Here, firefighters gather in front of the house after fighting the fire.
Photo: Christian Abraham

BRIDGEPORT -- Lt. Steven Velazquez and Firefighter Michel Baik were on the third-floor of the wood-frame home at 41 Elmwood Ave., checking for hot spots and making sure there were no people in the smoldering blaze. Then trouble hit. The two sent mayday signals back to dispatch.

Within minutes, the fire department's rapid intervention team found the pair on the floor, unconscious, and gave them CPR.

The two men could not be revived.

Hours later, a somber Mayor Bill Finch at a news conference talked about the two, both family men with young children. Velazquez was Finch's neighbor, and the mayor recalled pinning his badge on him when he was promoted to lieutenant in February. Baik, he said, was a rookie with two years on the job.

Fire officials were too upset to attend the press conference, Finch said, adding Chief Brian Rooney, who was out of state when the fire hit, sped back to Bridgeport to be with his men. "They're just too emotional to talk about it," Finch said.

Finch seemed close to tears when talking about how Velazquez's widow held the couple's newborn when he delivered the news of her husband's death. "It was not easy," he said. "They were both dedicated to their families. We're really going to miss them."

Velasquez had received the medal of merit, the department's third-highest award, in 2000.

The last time the department lost a member was in 1999, when Walter Flyntz died in a fire on Fairfield Avenue.

The initial report of the fire at the multi-family wood structure was called in at 3:53 p.m., and all of the building's occupants were safely evacuated, according to Finch.

Deputy Fire Chief Robert Petrucelli said he arrived on the scene 15 minutes into the fire and found heavy smoke coming from the second and third floors.

"Firefighters were making progress on the fire," Finch said, "knocking down the flames."

He said Velazquez and Baik were the furthest inside the house, doing search and rescue and ventilating the house.

There's no immediate word on what caused the fire, and Finch said the State Fire Marshal's Office will be investigating not only the cause of the blaze, but also looking at the equipment used by the deceased firefighters. Officials believe, however, that the fire started in the second-floor apartment.

Finch said that Velazquez and Baik were found "in a matter of minutes" after the mayday calls, adding more information "will come out in the investigation."

Three other firefighters were taken to the hospital, Finch said. One had a broken ankle -- an eyewitness said he saw a firefighter fall out of a third floor window -- and the other two were treated for heat exhaustion.

Finch said he visited the three injured firefighters at Bridgeport Hospital. "They were very somber and subdued," he said. "They knew we'd lost Steve and Mich."

Even at 9 p.m., long after the fire was extinguished, Finch said some Bridgeport firefighters remained at the scene.

"They're very emotional, it's a close-knit fire department," Finch said. "It's very hard when they lose a member.

Almost "half the department" was at the fire, the mayor said, and the first truck -- Engine 3 -- was actually on its way to an elevator rescue when firefighters spotted the smoke and diverted to the fire.

Firefighters from Milford and Fairfield provided mutual aid during the fire, and Fairfield firefighters, their equipment and their chief, Richard Felner, stayed to fill in for the Bridgeport crews.

At the Congress Street headquarters, Felner said, the Bridgeport firefighters were being debriefed and receiving any help they might need.

"We'll stay here as long as they want us; we're here for them. It's a bad, bad scene, especially for the crew that was working with them."

Finch said he was grateful for the assistance from other communities.

While Fairfield firefighters filled in for Bridgeport, crews from Norwalk and Westport were covering in Fairfield, he said.